Financial Contrast: IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) and Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG)

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) and Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for IDACORP and Pacific Gas & Electric, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IDACORP	1	1	8	0	2.70
Pacific Gas & Electric	1	6	7	0	2.43

IDACORP presently has a consensus price target of $137.67, suggesting a potential downside of 4.62%. Pacific Gas & Electric has a consensus price target of $20.55, suggesting a potential upside of 13.35%. Given Pacific Gas & Electric’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pacific Gas & Electric is more favorable than IDACORP.

Profitability

This table compares IDACORP and Pacific Gas & Electric’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IDACORP	17.59%	9.35%	3.27%
Pacific Gas & Electric	10.84%	11.28%	2.48%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.1% of IDACORP shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Pacific Gas & Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of IDACORP shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Pacific Gas & Electric shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

IDACORP pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Pacific Gas & Electric pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. IDACORP pays out 60.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pacific Gas & Electric pays out 16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. IDACORP has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Pacific Gas & Electric has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. IDACORP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

IDACORP has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific Gas & Electric has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares IDACORP and Pacific Gas & Electric”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IDACORP	$1.83 billion	4.27	$289.17 million	$5.82	24.80
Pacific Gas & Electric	$24.94 billion	1.60	$2.70 billion	$1.18	15.36

Pacific Gas & Electric has higher revenue and earnings than IDACORP. Pacific Gas & Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IDACORP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

IDACORP beats Pacific Gas & Electric on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IDACORP

IDACORP, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electric energy in the United States. The company operates 17 hydropower generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon; three natural gas-fired plants in southern Idaho; and interests in two coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming and Nevada. As of December 31, 2023, it had approximately 4,762 pole-miles of high-voltage transmission lines; 23 step-up transmission substations located at power plants; 21 transmission substations; 11 switching stations; 30 mixed-use transmission and distribution substations; 186 energized distribution substations; and 29,714 pole-miles of distribution lines, and 131 MW of battery storage, as well as provides electric utility services to approximately 633,000 retail customers in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. The company serves commercial and industrial customers, which involved in food processing, electronics and general manufacturing, agriculture, health care, government, and education. It also invests in housing and other real estate tax credit investments. IDACORP, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

About Pacific Gas & Electric

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.